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Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build 
it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. — 
Ps. 127-1. 



And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of Divine Providence, v/e mutually pledge to each other, 
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. — Declaration of Ittdepend- 
ence. 



It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, 
my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the 
universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential 
aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may conse- 
crate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States 
a Government instituted by themselves. — Washington, in his first In- 
augural Address. 



And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of 
Order, the Fountain of Justice, and the Protector, in all ages of the 
world, of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and 
its government. — John Adams, in his Inaugural Address. 



And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the uni- 
verse lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable 
issue for our peace and v'^'Ofi-^evitY.— Thomas Jejffcrson, in his first In- 
augural Address. . . : 

Having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure pur- 
pose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and 
with manly hearts. — Abraham Lincoln, in his first Message to Congress. 



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Abraham Lincoln 

ADDRESS BY 

MR. J. F. DOWNING 

On the occasion of the celebration of Lincoln's Birthday, 
at Erie, Pa., February 12, 1903, 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

In the few moments alloted to me as one of the speakers 
on this occasion, I wish to call attention to a single character- 
istic of Abraham Lincoln, which cannot fail to impress all who 
believe, as he did, in an All-wise Superintending Providence in 
the affairs of men and of nations. For four long and weary 
years he bore a burden such as has fallen upon few men — a 
burden as weighty as that which rested upon the great law- 
giver of Israel, to whom, in some respects he has been likened 
— and that burden was made bearable largely because of his 
faith in the eternal justice of the Great Ruler of the Universe, 
to whom he was wont to go in earnest prayer and supplication, 
in times of sore distress and trouble ; when the heavens lowered 
and the way before him seemed dark and uncertain. The belief 
of this great and good and honest-minded man in a Divine 
Providence — in the existence of the Most Pligh that "doeth his 
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the 
earth" — should have a saving influence upon all Avho are dis- 
posed to ignore or ridicule such a thing as a Superintending 
Providence in the affairs of the world. 

Prior to his inauguration as President in 1861, and while 
at his home in Illinois, there were a good many earnest friends 
of the government all over the land — in the South as well as 
in the North — who feared that Mr. Lincoln did not grasp the 
situation ; that he was not equal to the emergency in experience 
and mental ability; that he was disposed to treat too lightly 
or in an indiff'erent manner the dangers that confronted him 
and the country. This was, perhaps, due in part to the fact 
that Mr. Lincoln, in some of his public utterances at the time, 
was disposed to take a hopeful view of the situation, suggesting 



that the dangers ahead were not as great as they seemed to 
many to be. But we know now that all these misgivings were 
without real foundation ; we know now that Mr. Lincoln during 
all the time between his election and inauguration as President, 
was most profoundly impressed with the gravity of the situ- 
ation. Though of a brave heart, and confident that God would 
execute justice and judgment in due time, he looked forward 
to what appeared to him to be before him with fear and with 
trembling. To an old and valued friend, who called upon him 
at his home in January, he said : "I see the duty devolving up- 
on me. I have read, upon my knees, the story of Gethsemane, 
where the Son of God prayed in vain that the cup of bitterness 
might pass from him. I am in the garden of Gethsemane now, 
and my cup of bitterness is full and overflowing." That was a 
heart confession, spoken as one friend speaketh to another, 
and not meant for the world at large. As the President-elect 
was about to leave his home for the seat of government, his 
friends and neighbors gathered about him to bid him good-bye, 
to whom he spoke those words of farewell with which you are 
familiar, concluding as follows : "I now leave, not knowing 
when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me 
greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without 
the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I 
cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trust- 
ing in Him who can go with me and remain with you, and be 
everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet 
be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your pray- 
ers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." 
It has been said that "God always favors the heaviest bat- 
talions ;" and Napoleon said "Providence is always on the side 
of the last reserve." This may not be inconsistent with what 
President Lincoln said in his first inaugural address, when, 
speaking to the people of the North and of the South, he said : 
"If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and 
justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, 
that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment 
of the great tribunal of the American people." In this we see an 
expression of faith that the "heaviest battalions" and the "last 
reserve" would be eventually found on the side of truth anJ 



justice, which he evidently believed to Ix- on the side of the 
North ; that the time would surely come when "the mystic 
chords of memory, stretching- from every battle-field and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
broad land would yet swell the chorus of the Union when again 
touched, as surely they would be, by the better angels of our 
nature." 

In his first message to Congress, July, 1861, President Lin- 
coln, having expressed clearly and fully his theory of and justi- 
fication for the war, in closing said : "Having thus chosen our 
course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our 
trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly 
hearts." It was not long after that when the first disastrous 
battle of Bull Run was fought ; and soon after that came the 
Balls Bluff disaster, when the brave Colonel Baker, a dear 
friend of Lincoln's, was killed. Following these disasters 
came the great pressure for a proclamation of emancipation 
of the slaves in the rebel states. The President was told that 
it was God's will that he should issue such a proclamation ; but 
he wanted some evidence of that, saying, "I hope it will not be 
irreverent for me to say that, if it is probable that God would 
reveal His will to others on a point so connected with my duty, 
it might be supposed He would reveal it directly to me; for 
unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my 
earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. 
And if I can learn what it is, I will do it." Providence led 
President Lincoln to prepare a proclamation of emancipation 
in the summer of 1862, which he submitted to his cabinet ; but 
it was decided to postpone its publication until after some sub- 
stantial victory should be achieved by the Union army, which 
would have the efifect to revive the spirits of the people and 
strengthen the administration of the government. The battle 
of Antietam came in September, and while not an overwhelm- 
ing Union victory, it really led up to the promulgation of the 
emancipation proclamation. At the cabinet meeting called to 
consider the matter, the President, as recorded by Mr. Chase 
in his diary, said among other things : 

"When the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, as 
soon as it should be driven out of Maryland, to issue a procla- 



mation of emancipation, such as I thought most likely to be 
useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made the promise to 
myself and (hesitating a little) to my Maker. The rebel army 
is now driven out, and I am going to fulfill that promise ;" and 
fulfill it he did. This was the preliminary proclamation, which 
was made eiTective on the following first of January, 1863. As 
to his action President Lincoln said : "I can only trust in God 
that I have made no mistake." No immediate good to the 
Union cause followed, but rather darkness and uncertainty. 
God delayed the revealing of His purposes; but in due time 
the President's action was vindicated by events. 

Notwithstanding the defeat of General Lee at Gettysburg 
in July, 1863, and the taking of Vicksburg, the same time, by 
General Grant, and other favorable conditions, when the sum- 
mer of 1864 came, and Mr. Lincoln had been nominated by 
the Republicans for re-election, there were grave fears that he 
would fail to receive an expression of confidence on the part 
of the people ; that he would fail of re-election. This was the 
feeling of Mr. Lincoln himself. Happily the tide turned in time 
to save him ; and he expressed himself as "deeply thankful to 
God for the approval of the people." From the first. President 
Lincoln was controlled by this one idea : that if we do right, 
God will be with us, and if God is with us we cannot fail. 'Tn 
great contests," said he, "each party claims to act in accord- 
ance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, 
wrong." 

Why the struggle for the maintenance of the Union should 
be so prolonged he could not understand, unless God's purpose 
was something diiTerent from the purpose of either party. Tn 
his second inaugural address he suggests a reason, which can 
never be forgotten as long as the memory of our first martyr- 
President shall endure. These are his words: "Fondly do we 
hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war 
may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue 
until all the wealth piled up by the bondman's two hundred 
and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every 
drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another 
drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, 



so still it may be said, The judgments of the Lord are true 
and righteous altogether.' " 

Moses, who led the children of Israel out of bondage in 
Egypt to the land of promise, was not permitted, because of a 
sin committed against God, to enter that land himself; but he 
was permitted to get a view of it from Pisgah's peak, and then 
"died there in the land of Moab; but no man knoweth of his 
sepulchre unto this day." We know of no sin against God, 
committed by Abraham Lincoln, the chosen leader of the hosts' 
of Liberty and Union in our great Civil War, which justified 
his assassination just as his hopes for the preservation of the 
Union had been so signally realized; it was a dispensation oi 
Divine Providence hard to understand. But if the martyred 
President could be here to speak, he would, perhaps, console us 
with this thought : 

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 

But trust Him for His Grace, 
Behind a frowning Providence, 

He hides a smiling face." 

Like Moses, Abraham Lincoln was permitted to reach 
Pigsah's height and "view the landscape o'er." His heart 
was filled with inexpressible joy; his countenance changed 
from that sadness which had so long characterized it; in a 
word, he was transfigured, his whole being suddenly changing 
to a condition of serene joy, as he became conscious that the 
great purpose of his life had been accomplished. Only the 
joys of heaven itself could be greater. In such a happy condi- 
tion of soul and body he was summoned to enter heaven's gate 
and be at rest! 



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